I run the metabolomics facility as part of Glasgow Polyomics, and I'm a researcher into novel techologies for metabolomics. Metabolomics is a key enabling technology for synthetic biology, as it allows us to analyse metabolism - the biochemical processes that drive living things. Manipulating these processes are the targets of synthetic biology: engineering microorganisms to make fuels, drugs and industrial chemicals. We can explore these pathways, deriving information that suggests tweaking a particular enzyme, excluding a toxin or enhancing a specific byproduct, then evaluating these changes.